Solomon Gundy is a pickled

Pickling

Pickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar . The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste...

 (with salt) fish pâté

Pâté

Pâté is a mixture of ground meat and fat minced into a spreadable paste. Common additions include vegetables, herbs, spices, and either wine or cognac, armagnac or brandy...

 usually served with crackers as an appetizer in Jamaican cuisine

Jamaican cuisine

Jamaican cuisine includes a mixture of cooking techniques, flavors, spices and influences from the indigenous people on the island, and the Spanish, British, Africans, and Chinese who have inhabited the island. It is also influenced by the crops introduced into the island from tropical Southeast...

. It is made with smoked red herring

Kipper

A kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish, that has been split from tail to head, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold smoked.In the United Kingdom, in Japan, and in some North American regions they are often eaten for breakfast...

 (although other fish such as mackerel

Mackerel

Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They may be found in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel , enter bays and can be...

 and shad

Shad

The shads or river herrings comprise the genus Alosa, fish related to herring in the family Clupeidae. They are distinct from others in that family by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. The several species frequent different areas on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea....

 are also sometimes used) and is minced and spiced with hot peppers and seasonings. The dish appears on the menus of Jamaican restaurants and resorts. It is also sold as a packaged food for export.

The term may come from the British word salmagundi

Salmagundi

Salmagundi is a salad dish, originating in the early 17th century in England, comprising cooked meats, seafood, vegetables, fruit, leaves, nuts and flowers and dressed with oil, vinegar and spices. There is some debate over the meaning and origin of the word...

, used to refer to a salad

Salad

Salad is any of a wide variety of dishes, including vegetable salads; salads of pasta, legumes, eggs, or grains; mixed salads incorporating meat, poultry, or seafood; and fruit salads. They may include a mixture of cold and hot, often including raw vegetables or fruits.Green salads include leaf...

 of many different ingredients. The term is originally from the French word salmigondis, which refers to a disparate assembly of things, ideas or people, forming an incoherent whole (a hodepodge).

Pickled herring and onion served with sour cream

Sour cream

Sour cream is a dairy product rich in fats obtained by fermenting a regular cream by certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturally, sours and thickens the cream. Its name stems from the production of lactic acid by bacterial...

 and crackers is referred to as Solomon Gundy in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

.
The name Solomon Gundy is also a deprecated spelling of Solomon Grundy

Solomon Grundy

"Solomon Grundy" is an English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19299.-Lyrics:The rhyme has varied very little since it was first collected by James Orchard Halliwell and published in 1842 with the lyrics:* The premiere of Sesame Street features a Solomon Grundy...

, a famous European nursery rhyme

Nursery rhyme

The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...

character. Any connection to the food spread or pickling is unclear, but the poetic rhyme was popular with schoolchildren in Jamaica.

Sources

• The food of Jamaica: authentic recipes from the jewel of the Caribbean. John DeMers, Eduardo Fuss. Tuttle Publishing, 1998. ISBN 9625934014, 9789625934013 Pg 123